The best gaget I've bought recently is a low bridge warning addon for my Garmin.

I like to get off the interstates and be a bit more adventurous so it's great for that.

another choice for finding low clearance bridges and areas for weight restrictions on the bigger motor homes also some of the width restrictions. look for a Big Truck map from rand McNally. you do not have to get one of the new ones matter of fact find a old one or ask a driver if they have a old one and tear the low clearance section out of the front of it.

This fan made a great replacement for those originally included in my hurricane. http://www.12volt-travel.com/12-volt-heavy-duty-metal-fan-p-5059.html The drivers side fan worked but made a horrible noise. The passenger side had never worked. I picked up two of the road pro fans, trimmed the lighter plug off and wired them in. Worked / still working great. Cheap too!

Anyone know about undercoating? I figure it will add some weight, but how much could it really add? It must be worth carrying a few extra pounds to protect the undercarriage, right?

A long time ago, in another life, I installed undercoating. Mostly a waste of money unless you are doing it for sound deadening. Poorly installed undercoating can lead to salt getting under the coating a doing more damage than no undercoating. Save your money.

jdq1986

This is not a genius solution, fairly simple really. But maybe it will give someone an idea or at least save them some time in fixing a similar problem.

One day, about a month after I bought my used 5ver, my kitchen sink decided to stop draining. I did what anyone would do, removed the p-trap, cleaned it out, and re-installed it. Still wouldn't drain. The clear 45º elbow I have on my 3" sewer line was empty so I knew my sewer hose wasn't clogged. I used a plumbers snake to verify no obstructions between the sewer outlet on the RV and the outlet on the gray tank. So I knew the problem was in the interior pipes, somewhere between the p-trap and the tank. My snake wasn't long enough to go all the way through, so I had to devise a new plan. I decided a nice flush of high pressure water might free whatever the obstruction was. So now the problem was how to use my 3/4" hose to put pressure on my 1½" plumbing. After much research, I could not find an adapter that would work so I went to the hardware store hoping to make something that would work out of PVC. First I found a 3/4" female GHT x 3/4" female slip. Then I found a 1½" female thread x 1½" female slip. Then it was just a matter of finding the adapters and bushings I needed to go from 3/4" female slip to 1½" female slip. It ended up being a 1½"x¾" bushing, and a 2" piece of ¾" pipe. Put it all into place, test fit, then glued it together. Now I could run my hose through a window and attach it directly to the plumbing without losing pressure or making a mess/getting wet. The water in the sink did drain slowly so I wasn't too worried about a complete seal which might cause the pipe to bust under pressure, but just to be safe I decided to use a ball valve to slowly introduce pressure to the line, so it wouldn't bust if a complete seal occurred.

They actually make that commercially, Plus there are some "Power Shot" type products, compressed gas same theory.

And there is a rubber bladder like thing that comes in 3 sizes, you shove it in the pipe after you open the pipe up,, I've blown some serious clogs out with those. Most hardwares will have them.

I used a canned pressure clog remover on an old house with PB piping. It looked like an aerosol can with a cap that looked like half of a racquetball with a hole in it. When you placed the ball part in the sink you pressed down and that shot a blast into the sink to clean the clog. Instead, it shattered my pipes and I had quite a mess, and much plumbing work to do. Apparently those pipes were involved in a lawsuit and were no longer made. They told me I should replace full runs of that grey pipe wherever I found it.

I don't know if the plastic pipes in MH's are made of the same material. They look just like PVC pipes as they are all white, but other than color, they looked the same as my "water explosion" experience. I'm very careful now when trying to clear clogs. I like to use plastic snakes whenever practical.

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1999 Winnebago Adventurer 37G , Ford V-10 2006 Honda VTX 1300S

jdq1986

I don't know if the plastic pipes in MH's are made of the same material. They look just like PVC pipes as they are all white, but other than color, they looked the same as my "water explosion" experience.

Good bit of advice there. If you have white plastic plumbing they are certainly less capable of handling pressure than the black ABS plumbing being used in the more recently manufactured and/or higher end RV's. Whoever started putting PVC in RV's in the first place did not think that decision through, which is why so many are black ABS now. That being said, if there was some sort of flaw in those pipes (given the lawsuit you mentioned, and likely a recall) I would be more likely to blame the "explosion" on that instead of the canned air. Even standard schedule 10 white PVC ought to be able to hold whatever pressure a can like that could hold. Though I certainly understand your hesitation to implement the method again in the future if it's avoidable, and I suppose the good side of using air instead of water may be that in the event of a burst you may be left with less water to clean up.

Great ideas. We just traded in our 1978 mini MH for a new 2015 TT. When we first got our mini MH, we had trouble with spiders getting in the furnace and clogging it up with their nests. Someone suggested to us to get a dog flea collar and set it next to where the gas goes into the hot water heater. We also put one where the gas goes into the frigerator. We never had another problem with the furnace after that. I didn't see that tip in here but maybe the newer trailers don't have that problem anymore.

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2015 ORV Blackstone 280RKSB 2005 Chevy 2500 Diesel

Avid Geocachers since 2004 - Ogeo & ISplash

jdq1986

While reading a thread on boon docking, I learned about a trick seasoned boon dockers use to conserve water. Basically, it's a re-circulation valve between the hot water line and the fresh tank, for the purpose of not wasting those several seconds of cold water that comes out of your tap before the hot water kicks in.

Using this extremely simple trick I have increased my hot water capacity to over 85 gallons, which is only limited there by the capacity of my fresh tank (75) and my hot water heater (10). I just finished a half hour long hot shower that only ended because I drained the tank.

What I did:

My water pump is located beneath the kitchen sink, as is the fill tube for my fresh tank. Yes, this setup makes this easier, but if yours is in a different spot it is still possible it just may require a little extra effort running the tubing. First I tee'd into the fill tube and then tee'd into the cold water line, connected the two with tubing and put a ball valve in the middle as an easy way to fill the fresh tank via the city water connection from inside the RV. If your rig already has this capability you may wish to skip that step. Then I tee'd into the hot water line and led it to the tee in the fill tube as well, again with a ball valve in the middle. Now, with your fresh tank filled, your city water OFF, and your pump ON, open the ball valve on the hot line dumping your hot water tank directly into the fresh tank. This takes the chill off the water in your fresh tank. After only two circulations I obtained a temperature of 90?F in my fresh tank. The "trick" behind it is that the warmer the water is going into your hot water tank as you empty it, the less energy and time it takes to heat that water to the optimum temperature, as well as the less it cools down the hot water already in your tank.

I just had my first long, hot shower in a long time in which I did not have to rinse off in cool or cold water, and even had time to shave and otherwise just enjoy the shower!

Do NOT over do it. 90? or so should be safe for any holding tank, but I am not responsible if you over do it and melt a hole in your fresh tank.

Some rv's come with a recirc pump,, it hooks to the farthest point in the water system (usually the shower) and the water heater INLET, and very slowly pumps water around the loop (it is a very small pump) just enough to keep the lines warm.

The flip side is that it costs you fuel (propane or electricity) to keep those pipes warm, and electricity to run the pump.

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Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your businessMy Home is where I park it.

jdq1986

The flip side is that it costs you fuel (propane or electricity) to keep those pipes warm, and electricity to run the pump.

Exactly. Since mine is a manual recirc, no extra electricity to speak of (water pump runs a tad extra, negligible). But those recirc pumps do nothing to increase your hot water capacity like mine does.

Yup, I used to have a Window A/C that ran fine on a Genrac 1000 (Traditional generator not inverter but enclosed so it is quiet) wish I still had that genreac. Still own it but it grew legs and wandered off.. I think I know who's but can not point the law at him till I prove it.

But there are not as many options for Roof air

I know when one of my 13.5 K BTU Carriers went blewey (Major catastrophic failure of top unit) I replaced it with a 15K BTU (And glad am I that I did that now that I'm stuck in the sunny south) Checked the applique to see how much more power it needs compared to the old one.... Both the same 13.5 amps More cool, Same power YIPPIE.

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Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your businessMy Home is where I park it.

I use the "air bags" that come when items are shipped, for instance from Amazon, to keep food, cans, jars, etc. in the fridge from sliding around. Before I leave, I pack the fridge with the bags, then when I get to my destination, I pull them out and store them till I'm ready to leave then put them back in the fridge.

I use an indoor/outdoor thermometer, the kind with the readout at one end of the wire and the sensor on the other end, to see how cold my fridge is. I just put the sensor over the door so the end is inside and leave the readout hanging on the outside of the door. Keeps me from looking inside to check to see if it's cold or even too cold!

Here is another idea - dont drive like a yahoo ond there wont be a problem lol just kidding sorry i couldnt resist BUT here is another idea pack the fridge full of food and it wont move THEN eat all the food before you come home and the fridge will be empty lol - im just kidding